News In Brief

By
Robert Kilborn, Judy Nichols and Stephanie Cook /
February 24, 2000

Sen. John McCain won GOP presidential primaries in both Michigan and his home state, Arizona, but exit polls in the former showed he rode to victory largely with the support of non-Republicans. His rival, Texas Gov. George W. Bush, took two-thirds of the Republican vote there. McCain now has his sights on Tuesday's primary in Washington, an independent-minded state, while Bush has his eye on the concurrent contest in Virginia, which is more conservative. Both candidates are gearing up for the crucial March 7 primaries in a dozen states that include California, New York, and Ohio.

A proposal aimed at forcing a public library to install Internet filters on computers to shield youngsters from certain material was defeated by voters in Holland, Mich. - one of the first cities to put the issue on the ballot. If the proposal had been approved, funding to the institution would have been cut off unless filters were installed. The library board had suggested it would rather shut its doors.

The Senate planned to vote today on legislation that would strengthen the president's power to punish Russia and other countries that aid Iran's weapons programs. It would require reports to Congress every six months identifying those providing materiel to Iran for weapons systems. The president could then cut off arms sales or economic aid to those nations. The measure also stipulates the US could make payments to the Russian Space Agency for its role in building the International Space Station only when a president determines the Kremlin actively is opposing proliferation to Iran. President Clinton has objected to the bill, saying it complicates nonproliferation efforts.

Clinton was to unveil measures that could make it easier for low-income people to keep food-stamp aid and still own cars essential for getting to work. Instead of the current limit of $4,650 on the value of a car that a food-stamp participant can own, his plan would consider the amount of equity a person has in a car.

Protesting skyrocketing diesel fuel prices, more than 200 independent truckers converged on the US Capitol in a convoy that began in New Jersey. The rates, which have doubled in some areas over the past year, cost haulers as much as $100 a day and could put them out of business, protesters said. Some lawmakers said they'd seek to suspend temporarily the 24-cent-a-gallon federal tax on diesel fuel. But the White House said repealing it was "not a viable option."

The number of two- to four-year-olds taking psychiatric drugs such as Ritalin and Prozac rose 50 percent between 1991 and 1995, a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association reported. Experts said the news reveals a troubling trend because the effects of such drugs are largely unknown in young children. They suggested the increase is due to greater acceptance of the drugs and because more kids attend day-care centers and are pressured to conform to standards of good behavior.

The Supreme Court invalidated a provision of Hawaii's Constitution that allowed only people descended from original Hawaiians to vote for trustees of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. The restriction allows unlawful racial discrimination, the justices ruled by a 7-to-2 vote.